The Coldest Heart
by Luna Rei
Summary: Envy always hated humans...always. However, at one time, he'd fallen in love with one. Now, what happens when that human comes back into his life? Let's find out! Envy X OC
1. Chapter 1: Shattering Ice

The blond haired boy stood on a hill on the outskirts of the village. He was watching the sunset. In the back of his mind, he was wondering where she was. She was nearly late. He was a little nervous; the village didn't much care for him or for her because of their abilities with alchemy. She was especially feared by the villagers, after all, she could…

"Will!"

William Elric glanced over his shoulder and saw her running towards him. Her long, light blue hair flew behind her as she ran. Her pale, sparkling blue eyes glistening in the fading sunlight.

"I was getting worried," he said as she caught up to him, placing her gloved hands on her knees in order to catch her breath.

"Sorry *pant* I had to *pant* do some things *pant* for Mother before *pant*I could *pant* come."

She smiled at him one of her famous smiles as several strands of her light blue hair fell in front of her face.

"Besides," she said, pushing her hair behind her ear, "you worry too much."

He sighed heavily, "And you never worry enough."

"Spoil-Sport!" she said as she stuck out her tongue out at him playfully and winked.

He laughed at her childishness and began to walk over in the direction of the trees on their right. "Come on, are you ready to train?"

She did a light little skip to catch up with him. "I'm always ready. It's you who takes forever."

"Well, I'm sorry that I'm not quite as "special" as you are."

She froze in midstride, a few steps from the forest, her face suddenly losing its' perky glow.

Will froze a few steps in front of her, under one of the first trees and seemed to realize what he had just said. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

A tree branch suddenly shook overhead. He glanced up and saw her in the tree smiling down at him. "It's fine. I know you didn't mean anything by it."

She quickly leaped to a branch in the next tree. She reminded Will of a squirrel, she always seemed to feel more comfortable off of the ground then she ever seemed on it. He'd watched her learn how to climb trees faster then she'd learned to walk. She could move through the trees a good deal faster than he could run as well, and he was a fast runner.

However, despite all of her strange qualities, there was a part of Will that truly cared for her. A part of him that maybe even loved this girl, this girl named-

"Hey, Will?! Are you coming or what?!" she shouted from several trees in front of him.

Will smiled.

"Yeah, I'm coming." He said as he walked farther into the forest, the girl with the light blue hair leaping easily from branch to branch ahead of him.

~Fast Forward One Year~

"It's all right. Calm down," Will said as he held the crying girl with the light blue hair in his arms. They were in a cave deep in the woods. The full moon light glistened off of the stalactite formations, making the cave sparkle.

"B - but why them a-and n-not me?! W-why did t-they, how c - could they j-just…"

"Shh, shh. It's alright. I promise you I'll fix this," he said, knowing what he had to do, what he had to do in order to save her.

The girl stopped crying. She pulled back and looked up at him, her eyes glistening with tears. "Promise?" she whispered.

He smiled kindly at her. "Where there's a Will there's a way, right?" He said quoting one of her favorite sayings.

She smiled alittle and stood up.

"Are you sure you can fix it Will?" she asked as she walked to the back of the cave.

"Yes, I'm positive. I just need a bit of time," he said, taking an unwilling step back from her.

"How long?" she asked, tilting her head to the side, allowing her hair to tumble to her right.

He thought about it for a minute. "Six years…that's all I should need…"

"Are you sure this will work? That I won't…you know…" she murmered nervously.

He stared at her, his gold eyes blazing. "Would I let you go through with this if I thought you were in any form of danger?!"

'Or if there was any other way?!' he thought regretfully to himself.

She smiled at him again, putting all of her trust into it. "Okay Will…it's only six years after all, right?"

He smiled and shook his head, "Always the optimist, aren't you?"

"Yep!" she said smiling, not even knowing it would be her last for many, many years.

"See you later, Will," she said as she raised her hands started to glow. Her eyes began to glow blue as her body was lifted off of the ground.

"Goodbye-" he started to say, but a bright glow and a loud crackling sound forced him to stop and look away.

The glow died as suddenly as it had appeared.

Will looked up and saw a thick wall of ice at the end of the cave. Inside of the ice was the clearly visible form of the girl with the light blue hair. Her eyes were closed and she had moved so that she was curled up in a ball with her arms hugging her knees into her chest. Her light blue hair was splayed out behind her, as if being blown by the wind. She had chosen a good way to freeze herself.

"I'll try to comeback for you," Will whispered.

"You know how foolish this is," a familiar male voice said from behind him.

Will turned around and saw…

~Over 600 Years Later~

All the current residents in the large mansion were sound asleep, each dreaming various dreams of their own. That is, all except one green haired homunculi who had just awoken from a rather confusing dream.

The homunculi, whose name was known to all those around him as Envy, sat up on his bed and rubbed his fingers against his pale forehead. He had been having the same dream for the past several weeks, and it hadn't gotten any clearer. He closed his eyes and could easily conjure up the image of the smiling girl with the light blue hair.

"Who was that girl?" Envy, who had once been known as William Elric when he was human, wondered out loud.

He glanced out of the window next to his bed and looked up at the full moon.

He quickly shook his head and lay back down. "Whatever, it doesn't matter anyway."

He had long since given up anything that reminded him of being human.

~In An Old, Dark Forest Far Away~

The forest was as old as time itself. It had seen many things and hid many secrets, so that the world may never learn some of its' own darker truths.

However, in an ice covered cave deep in the forest, one of the many secrets was about to be revealed.

A pair of glowing blue eyes opened and throughout the forest, many travelers could swear that they heard the strangest sound that day…almost like the shattering of ice.  
-End of Chapter 1-


	2. Chapter 2: Confusion

The blue haired girl walked out of the cave slowly, breaking small, melting shards of ice under her slippered feet as she went. She blinked her silvery blue eyes several times at the bright sunlight, not having looked at it herself in years. She used her right gloved hand to try to dim some of the bright sunlight as she gazed at her surroundings. She couldn't really remember all that much, her mind felt like it was in a fog.

After her eyes had gotten use to the harsh, glaring light, she reached her hands up and stretched. Every last muscle in her body ached.

'When did I fall asleep?' she wondered quietly to herself as she stretched. She paused, 'Wait…who am I? How did I get here?'

She glanced down at the ice, as if she had just registered the fact that it was there.

"What's going on?" she whispered to herself, feeling confused.

Suddenly, a sharp pain ripped through her mind. She cried out in shock and dropped to her knees, holding her head in agony. She closed her eyes as old memories began to flash behind her eyelids.

She saw her mother calling her and her little five year old sister to dinner. The two of them laughed and raced off to the house. The image quickly faded.

Another image came, this one of herself. She sat out in the woods, drawing a strange circular figure on the ground.

'An alchemic circle, used to perform alchemy,' she thought to herself.

The image faded again. The images came even quicker now through her mind. This time, they were only brief flashes, garbled words and sounds that were incomprehensible, yet, somehow, she understood it all...she remembered…she remembered everything.

When the memories had at last faded, she opened her eyes. She realized that, at some point, she had curled into a ball on the hard, ice strewn ground. Tears ran down her face at what she had just seen.

'Maybe, I could just lie here for a few years. Ha! Yeah right, I'll be lucky if I last a year…I could stay here, wait for death to come. Surely dying can't be nearly as hard as living…right?'

She quickly shook her head, shaking off all of her negative thoughts. She then stood up and looked at her surroundings again.

'How long was I frozen for? It feels longer than six years…Would the village even still be there anymore?'

"Only one way to find out!" she shouted to herself, feeling a bit more optimistic about her present situation. She walked forward and began to carefully plot her course through the woods.

~At the Mansion~

An old woman sat outside, sipping tea. Her head was drawn down as she stared at her tea, apparently lost in thought.

A door opened to the old woman's right. A female in a tight, revealing black dress walked confidently up to her. She had wavy black hair and violet eyes, like all of the homunculi.

The old woman looked up from her tea, "Lust, how was your last scouting?"

Lust shook her head. "Sadly unsuccessful, Master Dante. The alchemist in question was pathetic. He barely lasted five seconds against Gluttony. It was…disappointing…"

Dante shrugged looking back into her tea. "There are others, like the Elric brothers, that are far more interesting than him. Speaking of interesting, earlier today I heard the strangest sound from the forest."

"Oh?" Lust asked, uninterested.

"It reminded me of…never mind." She gave her tea a thoughtful look, as if trying to make up her mind. "Tell Envy to use his 'gift' to look around town. Tell him to look for anyone…suspicious."

Lust shrugged her shoulders, not really caring and started to head back inside to give Envy his new mission.

'But, it's strange,' Lust thought, 'For a second there Dante actually looked...nervous.'

~Near the Edge of the Forest~

'How long have I been walking?' she wondered to herself as she carefully stepped over a rather large tree root. Her legs were tired, but the muscles had loosened up a little. She absentmindedly wondered if she should keep going, after all, it was possible that the village wasn't even there anymore.

'Where'd all these pessimistic thoughts come from?!' she mentally berated herself. She looked ahead and suddenly saw a break in the trees. 'Yes! Almost there!'

She pushed her way out through the last few branches and stared down at the rather large looking town. 'Dublith...I think…Oh, well. It's got to be better than staying in those woods!' She thought, determined to keep up her optimistic viewpoint.

'I wonder where Will is. And why didn't he wake me up?!' She wondered as she made her way into town.

She mentally decided that, when she found Will, she was going to give him a piece of her mind!

-End of Chapter 2-


	3. Chapter 3: Gun

_~ Sometimes if you want to get rid of the gun, you have to pick the gun up. ~_

Huey Newton

"Is there something that hasn't changed?!" the girl with the long blue hair muttered to herself as she pulled her black cloak tighter around herself.

Earlier she had come into Dublith, full of hopes of finding Will or anyone else that she knew. Of course, she hadn't realized how different the city was…or how much she stood out. Oddly enough, an eighteen year old girl with silvery blue hair stood out real easily in even the most crowded of places. She'd just felt…so exposed. It's not like she wasn't used to people staring at her. That sort of thing happened no matter where she went or how she looked.

It was almost as if people just _sensed _that there was something wrong with her.

"A little paranoid, are we?" she muttered to herself.

'Maybe it has something to do with your new outfit, hmm?' she wondered to herself as she absentmindedly stroked the cloak that she had only just "borrowed" from the first house she'd found with a clothing line. She felt bad about stealing it, and new Will would be very disappointed in her when he found out, but she was still glad to have it on. It covered both her blue hair and her unnaturally silver-blue eyes, making her feel…almost normal as she walked along the streets of what she assumed was Dublith.

She glanced to her left and paused as she looked through one of the shop's windows. It was a jewelry store, with dozens of glass cases carefully protecting some of the most beautiful gems the girl had ever seen in her life. She had a slight obsession with shiny things, much to her embarrassment.

'Well…I don't have any money on me, but that doesn't mean I can't look!' she mentally decided as she walked into the store.

It actually wasn't very crowded inside, she noted, walking into the store. There were about ten people in the shop, not counting herself or the cashier currently ringing up a couple.

'They look good together,' she thought as she passed by the couple. The man was slightly on the heavy side, but well muscled. The woman standing next to him was slim and curvaceous, her black hair completely braided and pulled back into a ponytail. She didn't see what the two were buying and, honestly, she didn't really care, as she laid her eyes on several large, sparkling jewels near the back of the room.

She quickly made her way to the back, not seeing the suspicious glances she was earning from the couple or the cashier. Apparently, she hadn't thought of the fact that a person wandering in to a ritzy jewelry store in a dark, mysterious black cloak would look like a potential robber…

"Excuse me, sir?" came a slightly hostile voice to her right. She looked reluctantly away from the jewels and turned to see the black-haired woman from earlier who was now glaring at her suspiciously.

'What did I do now?!' the girl wondered to herself as she looked at the wary woman.

The woman looked the girl up and down, which caused the girl to pause and re-think her choice of clothes. 'Oh, well…that would explain it…'

"Uh, wait, it's not what you think I-" she started to say…

Until the real thief burst through the front door, pointing his gun at the cashier.

'And people wonder why I hate my life…'

-In the Forest Behind Dublith-

The homunculus Envy moved easily through the forest, going far faster than any useless human could. However, at this moment, Envy was furious.

Envy hated Dante, he truly did. She was human after all, no matter how many bodies she went through.

And as far as Envy was concerned, all humans were worthless.

However, she was planning on ridding the world of human, so, he followed her orders…

For now.

At the current moment, though, he was contemplating all of the different forms of torture he had learned over the centuries. Who did that old hag think she was?! Making him go 'look for anyone suspicious.'

'What does that even mean?!?!' Envy thought, feeling his rage increase more and more as he ran.

Envy paused as he reached the outskirts of Dublith, changing his form to that of a small, dark green tomcat.

The Envy-cat blended easily onto the crowds of people, almost too easily. He looked around for anyone or anything interesting and became bored very quickly.

He was now resting on a table in front of a small café, licking the blood off of his claws. He'd had to claw some annoying brat earlier for trying to pick him up. The kid had run off crying, screaming for his mommy.

…Envy _really_ hated humans…

'Stupid, pathetic, worthless-'

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud, terrified scream.

Envy's cat ears twitched in the direction of the sound. It was coming across the street from…a jewelry store. He raced over to the other side of the street and leaped onto the ledge where the windows stood. Envy peered inside and smiled a wide, vicious cat grin.

Inside the store was a man pointing a gun at the cashier. He was shouting something that, even with his increased hearing, Envy couldn't hear. Several of the store's customers started to panic, trying desperately to push past each other in an effort to get as far from the gun as possible.

'Now this is more like it!' Envy thought happily as the man turned his gun onto the frightened customers, causing them all to freeze. The cashier had opened the register and was now laying out all of the money on the counter. The man grinned maliciously and shouted something, probably an order as many of the people, including the cashier had dropped onto the ground.

There were only three people still standing: a tall, bulky man, a lean woman with braided hair and…someone in a cloak?

'Now that's different…' Envy thought, frowning slightly.

The man with the gun noticed the three and advanced at them with his gun aimed at them. He was shouting at the three as he came closer, but they either didn't understand what he was saying, or didn't care.

Whatever the problem was, the man looked like he was fed-up with them. He aimed the gun and…

…the woman clapped her hands together and slammed them on the ground. A white light shined and the floor under the thief's feet crumbled, causing him to start to lose his footing…and his aim.

The woman smirked triumphantly and looked like she was about to finish him off, when she suddenly collapsed onto her knees. Her body made a hacking motion and a large amount of blood came out of her mouth. The bulky man bent down next to her, trying to help her as she continued to cough-up blood. Both seemed to have forgotten about the man with the gun.

However, as he stood up, it was clear he had not forgotten about them.

He was about to shoot when something unexpected happened.

Envy watched as the cloaked figure clapped his/her hands together and pointed both hands at the man and…

Ice suddenly began to climb-up the gun, working its way from the tip to the trigger.

Envy's eyes widened in shock, as his mind flashed back to his dreams of another ice user…

'Focus!' he snapped at himself.

The ice froze within a few seconds, not even giving the thief enough time to drop the gun as the ice climbed all the way up his arm. The thief's face was contorted in pain as he dropped to his knees and grabbed his now frozen arm with his other hand.

The cloaked person lowered his/her hands and stared down at the man. The person brought his/her hands to their face, which was still covered by the cloak, seeming to be stunned at what they'd done.

Having stopped hacking-up blood, the woman was standing-up and turned towards the person. The customers were also hesitantly getting up, many staring at the cloaked person in a mixture of shock and fear. The woman stepped towards the person, saying something that, much to Envy's irritation, he couldn't hear. The cloaked figure took a step back, looking frantically around at all of the people staring at him/her.

The woman reached out a hand to the figure, seeming to try and calm him/her. Instead, the person ducked under her arm and took off at a sprint.

Envy's cat eyes followed the person as he/she ran out of the store and up the street.

'Well, I'd call that suspicious…' Envy thought to himself as he raced after the cloak.

Whoever he or she was, they were _fast_, Envy only barely managed to keep up with the person as he/she took every last random turn imaginable.

'Just what is this guy thinking?!'

-Normal POV-

'Not again, not again, not again!_'_ the girlwith the blue hair thought franticly as she raced out of the jewelry store.

She couldn't believe what she'd just done! When was the last time she'd even thought of using her powers?! Her mind replayed the incident in her head.

She'd panicked when the thief had come in, she hadn't even heard him ordering everyone to get on the floor. She'd just stood there…it only got worse when he pointed the gun at her head. Her mind had completely blanked, she couldn't have moved if she'd wanted to.

Then, that woman had stepped up to him and used alchemy. She'd watched how the woman had clapped her hands together…she hadn't used a circle…just like her. After that, the woman had just collapsed, giving the man time to train his gun back on her.

The girl's mind had just snapped, causing her body to react instinctively. She clapped her own hands together, focusing her will on the gun. The temperature in the room had immediately dropped as the gun froze, then the man's hand and…if she hadn't stopped herself, the thief would have frozen completely.

'I almost killed him!!!' she thought, panic causing her to not think as she turned around another random corner and found herself in an alleyway. She collapsed against the wall of the alley, her breath coming out in quick gasps of air as she tried to slow her heartbeat.

She buried her face into her knees as she felt tears try to escape.

She hated her powers. People were always afraid of her because of them. Being an alchemist was bad enough, but being one who didn't need to use any kind of alchemy circle…

"I hate my life…" she whispered to herself.

"Meow?"

The sound snapped her out of her feelings of sadness as she looked down…

…and straight into the eyes of a dark green, shorthaired cat.

-Envy's POV-

"Aren't you cute…" the cloaked person whispered, its voice clearly feminine.

'Ok, so you're a girl…now…what do you look like…' Envy thought as he looked closer at the cloaked girl.

"Heh-heh…what are you doing out here?" she whispered, crossing her legs and reaching out with a hand, still covered by her cloak, to try to scratch the cat behind the ears.

'Stupid human!' Envy thought, deciding to go for a more direct approach. He dogged her hand and leaped into her lap, trying to see what she looked like under the cloak.

Envy felt her body stiffen under him as she shook her head slowly back and forth. "Trust me little guy, you don't want anything to do with me. I'm...not a very good person to be around."

'Annoying, stubborn, stupid human!' Envy thought, becoming more agitated by the second. Trying not to gag, he looked at her with his widest, most innocent cat-eyes he could manage.

She reached out and, despite Envy's meow of protest, picked him up and inspected him. "Where's your collar? A handsome little thing like you can't be a stray…"

'…ok, maybe she's not _that_ stupid…for a human…'

"Are you alright Miss?"

The cloaked girl leaped to her feet, still holding Envy in his cat form, and snapped her head in the direction of the voice. It was the alchemist from the jewelry store.

She held her hands in front of her, trying to calm down the girl. "It's alright, I'm not here to hurt you."

The girl kept silent, though her body did relax a bit.

The woman reached out a hand to her, as if to shake. "I am Izumi. What's your name?"

"…Why aren't you afraid?!" the girl asked in a slightly quavering voice.

The woman's eyes widened in surprise. She lowered her hand. "Afraid of what?"

The girl started to shake. "I almost killed someone back there! Everyone was afraid of me! Why aren't you?!"

The woman's eyes softened. "Did you _try_ to kill him?"

The girl froze. "No…I just...didn't want anyone to get hurt…"

The woman smiled kindly at the her. "Then you did nothing wrong. Now please Miss, may I know who you are? I haven't seen you around here before."

The girl paused for a moment. She slowly straightened up and nodded her head slightly, reaching up to grab the hood of her cloak. She pulled back her hood…

…and revealed a girl with long, cerulean blue hair and silvery blue eyes.

Envy's mind froze in shock. 'It's her...that girl…but...how…'

The girl gave Izumi a small smile. "My name is Erin…Erin Aneira."

'Erin…'

-Chapter 3 End-


	4. Chapter 4: Kindness

Chapter 4 - Kindness

_~ No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. ~_

_Aesop_

'What in the name of alchemy possessed me to do this?'

Erin glanced up nervously at the two people sitting across from her. They were both staring at her. She quickly went back to focusing the small, green cat sitting on her lap. The cat was also staring at her…

'You're not helping!' she thought angrily, narrowing her eyes at it.

Erin did _not_ like to be stared at. Her powers made her feel self conscious in general. And why were they staring anyways? What? Did she have a sign on her head with the word "FREAK" on it or something? It was starting to _really_ bug her now.

"Erin?"

She looked back at Izumi and her husband, Sid. Izumi had a small smile on her face. However, she had the look of someone getting ready for a difficult task.

"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

Erin gave Izumi a small, slightly shy smile, "Sure, I guess."

'Here comes the interrogation…' Erin thought, letting out a silent sigh.

"Do you know where you are right now, Erin?"

Erin thought over her response carefully before answering. "Dublith…right?"

Izumi's smile grew slightly wider at the girl's child-like hesitation. Erin seemed like a sweet girl, but Izumi still had to know why she was here by herself. She'd seemed lost earlier and the power she'd shown with her alchemy had been…incredible. You couldn't become that good without training.

Not only that…but it hadn't escaped Izumi's notice that Erin hadn't used a circle…which could only mean that she…No, no, she had to be sure first…

"Yes and…do you know how you got here?"

Erin's eyes widened slightly at the question. What was she supposed to say?

'Well, let's see, I froze myself a few years back and woke up in a cave out in the woods. A friend of mine was supposed to wake me up, but I'm not quite sure where he went. Why did I freeze myself? Oh, it's because I…'

'Not a chance! There's no way I can tell her that. If I did, she'd either not believe me and call me insane or…even worse, believe me and kill me for being some sort of…'

Erin looked away from Izumi and back at the cat, her blue hair falling back down and covering her eyes. The cat cocked its head to the side, giving Erin a curious look. It seemed to be waiting for her to answer as well.

Erin was careful to keep her voice quiet when she answered and, for added effect, gave it a hint of sadness and confusion.

"I don't…remember…"

* * *

'…You've gotta be kidding me!'

Envy had become progressively more annoyed with himself as this nightmare had continued. For one thing, he'd found that he couldn't take his eyes off of Erin. Why? Like he knew! He kept trying to convince himself it was from shock. Yeah, sure, it makes sense. Who wouldn't be shocked to see someone they knew from over 400 years ago?

Of course, he'd gotten over the shock awhile ago, but he found that he still couldn't look away from her.

Secondly, he'd actually allowed for this human to carry him! Like he was some common house-cat and not Envy, the oldest and strongest of all of the homunculi! But he hadn't protested in the slightest! He hadn't thought of leaving! Even as he was here listening to the alchemist's little interrogation, (that's what it was after all, no matter what she wanted to call it) he found himself unwilling to leave the human…

And, now, he was getting angry that Erin didn't remember how she got there. But the alchemist's questions didn't stop there…

"Where do you come from?"

"Do you know anyone here?"

And so on. Every question got the same answer from Erin, though different variations of it.

"I'm not sure."

"I don't think so…"

It looked like Erin was starting to get frustrated with all of the questions. Her hands were clenched on top of her legs. Her hair had long-since fallen in front of her eyes, making it hard for him to know exactly what she was feeling.

But it became pretty clear after the next question.

"Where are your parents?"

"I don't know!"

Everyone looked slightly taken back at her outbreak. She'd brought up her hands to cover her face. Her breath was coming in shaking gasps. It sounded like she was trying to keep herself from crying.

'Jeez…it was just a question…' Envy thought, now getting annoyed with her as well as himself. 'What's the big deal?'

"I-I'm sorry…i-it's just that I…I can't remember and…"

The sound of wood scraping across tile came as Izumi stood up. She made her way around the table and bent down next too Erin, her head level with the girl's. She placed a hand lightly on the girl's cloak-covered shoulder as she tried to calm her down.

"It's alright, Erin. It's just fine, you don't need to remember anything right now."

"I'm sorry," Erin murmured rubbing her hands over her eyes like she was removing any leftover tears, "It's just really…frustrating…"

Izumi smiled kindly, "I'm sure it is. But it's alright. I'm sure if anyone's looking for you, they'll be able to find you soon."

'Somehow, I doubt that,' Envy thought as he looked back at the four hundred year old teen.

* * *

Erin nodded and turned to Izumi, removing her hands from her face and giving the older woman a small smile. "Yeah…you're right…"

Izumi stood up and placed her hands on her hips. Smiling down at Erin she said, "Good, now, since you can't remember why you're here, I'm going to assume you don't have anywhere to sleep tonight, right?"

Erin's eyes widened in shock. She hadn't thought about that! She had no money at all and she wasn't sure if anyone she knew was even around anymore!

'Crud…what am I going to do?' she thought feeling a swell of panic crash over her mind.

"Well then, why don't you stay here with us for the night?"

Erin's eyes widened even further, her panic halted in its tracks. Had she heard her right?

"Stay here…?"

Izumi clapped her hands together, as if making her decision final. "Why not? You don't remember anything or anyone and we have an extra room upstairs for guests. So, unless you have any objections…?"

Erin shook her head, still feeling rather stunned.

"Excellent! And, uh…is your little friend staying too?"

Erin looked at her in confusion for a moment before she recalled the ball of fur sitting on her lap. She gave the cat a questioning look with her eyes.

"I guess so…I mean, if he wants too…and if you two aren't allergic to cats!" She said quickly, trying to be a good guest.

Izumi smiled and looked at her husband, "Don't worry about us. We're fine around most pets."

"Oh, alright," Erin said. She still felt a bit nervous.

Izumi turned back to the window. "Anyway, it's getting late and I'm sure you're tired after today's ordeal. So, why don't I show you to your room?"

"Ah, thank you!" Erin said hurriedly, standing up with the cat carefully held in her arms. She hadn't realized how late it was.

* * *

'What am I still doing here?'

Envy was no longer angry with himself, oh, no, he'd moved on from being _just_ angry a looooong time ago. Now he was about ready to rip his own head off!

He glared down at the peaceful-looking Erin. After Izumi had showed Erin her room and left, the girl had placed him on the bed and, almost immediately, passed out right on top of the bed's covers. Her body was slightly curled into herself as she lay on her side, one hand resting on the pillow near her face.

He didn't even understand how she was _still_ alive. How could she not be dead…he'd known her over four hundred years ago…

'No,' he mentally corrected himself, shaking his head in disgust, '_William Elric_ knew her four hundred years ago.'

Either way, she _looked_ like she was pretty close to death. Her skin was unhealthily pale, blue veins easily showing through on her arms and neck. She also was positively freezing. Even though he was lying several inches from her on the bed, he could feel goose bumps crawling up his spine. It was disturbing…

It didn't matter, he had to get going, Dante would be expecting him back soon…

_Creak_

Envy, still in his cat form, snapped his head around to find that the door had opened. Izumi stepped into the room, moving quietly as she did. She wore a plain white shirt and gray sweatpants. The woman paused upon seeing the sleeping girl and the alert cat eyes staring straight at her. She leaned back against the wall next to the door and gave the sleeping Erin a hard stare. She looked like she was trying to figure something out about her.

'Keep trying,' Envy thought, lying on his front paws, 'I've been at it all day.'

Izumi sighed, running her fingers though her braids. "What are you, Erin?" she whispered.

'Heck if I know,' Envy thought, rolling his cat eyes.

The woman gave a tired smile and walked over to the bench at the end of the bed. She picked up one of the several neatly folded blankets and laid it carefully across the sleeping Erin. Her hands twitched under the sudden warmth of the blanket, but otherwise she remained perfectly still.

'Talk about sleeping like the dead…'

He jumped when he felt something wrap around him. It was another blanket. Izumi had apparently decided that he needed some form of warmth too.

"I really hope you stick around, little guy," Izumi whispered, smiling down at the dark green cat. "She seems more…calm with you around," she concluded, her shoulders moving up in a small shrug. She then walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind her as she went.

Envy looked from the warm, comforting blanket wrapped around him to the peacefully sleeping girl and back again. He let out a sigh of his own.

'This is sooo backwards,' he thought exasperatedly.

Still…he really should be getting back...Dante would begin to suspect him if he was gone too long…besides, he had to tell her about Erin (he was betting that she was pretty much the definition of "suspicious.")

'Yeah…leaving…' he thought as his eyelids became heavy and slowly shut.

'Then again…how much could one more day really hurt?' was his last thought as he curled up into a ball and fell into a deep sleep next to a girl he hadn't seen in over four hundred years.

* * *

Ok, ok...I know I said in the last chapter that this one would show you why Erin and Envy would work out well together...but this chapter kind of turned out to be longer then I wanted it to be...so I'm splitting it.

-dodges random daggers-

Jeez...this is getting old people! Anyway, I'm going to go hide now and I'll post some more of this...well, later...

And ya know...if you want to, you could review...if you really wanted to...just saying. ;)


	5. Chapter 5: Words

**(To all readers who Beta, please read the note at the end of this story. Thanks for your time.)**

Chapter 5 - Words

_~ A word uttered cannot be taken back ~_

_African Proverb_

She looked back into the violet eyes of the cat and whispered, "Please tell me I'm not the only one who finds this odd."

The cat blinked at her, intelligent violet eyes giving nothing away. It gave a soft "Meow." Erin decided to take it as an affirmative.

The girl smirked, picking up the cat and set him on her lap as she did. She began to stroke the cat's dark green fur, smirk widening slightly as it to purr in pleasure as she scratched him behind the ears. Then the cat froze and tried to shake her hand off. Fur bristling in anger, he hissed in annoyance at her and jumped onto the cobblestone road.

She reached out and put one gloved hand lightly on his fur, trying to calm him. The cat looked back and narrowed his slitted eyes at her. She had the strangest feeling that he didn't like to be comforted. It was a strangely human emotion, one which no cat could or should truly possess. But still, Erin found herself treating him the same as she would any human. She'd experienced far stranger things in her life then an overly-intelligent feline.

"I'm sorry…Please don't go," She heaved a heavy sigh and then offered the cat a small smile. "I'm really glad you're here."

The cat's eyes widened slightly and it froze, unsure of what to do.

"Besides…" she continued, a playful smirk forming, "Do you really want to leave me alone with _her_ right now?" She motioned her head back up the street where the brunette had previously run off to.

The cat looked over in that direction and shook its head slightly in what Erin assumed was bewilderment. It turned back around and jumped lightly back onto Erin's lap.

"At least I'm not the only one who finds this whole scenario odd," she grumbled, patting the cat's head as it curled up. She paused for a moment in her petting to grab onto her sunhat before a sudden gust of wind could steal it.

Her outfit choice had certainly changed from yesterday, not that she was complaining. Erin's new ensemble consisted of a long sleeved white sweater, a sunhat (which, with her hair pulled into a nice, tight bun, kept all but a few stray blue locks from being seen), sandals and…a pair of dark pants (pinned at the ends to account for the few inches of height difference between herself and Izumi). Her whole life she'd only been able to choose from wearing a dress or a skirt and that was all. It was difficult for Erin to comprehend…when did it suddenly become acceptable for women to wear pants?

Or, an even better question…

"How long _have_ I been asleep?" she murmured to herself, shaking her head in a mixture of sadness and confusion. Unnoticed by her, the cat had rolled its eyes in a most human display of exasperation.

Erin sighed and leaned back into the hard wooden bench, making a mental note to slyly ask Izumi what year it was when she got back from…well, wherever she'd run off to. Izumi had awoken her early this morning under the pretense of taking her…shopping. She had to suppress a shudder at the mere thought of the word. Honestly, Erin had never enjoyed any form of shopping. She tolerated getting food and other such necessities…but clothes? No, she'd never enjoyed or had the patience for frivolities. Not only that, but she'd really never thought of Izumi as being the type who liked to shop. She seemed too practical for such things. However, after several minutes of convincing arguments from Izumi, which ranged from the fact that Erin actually did need clothes (a point that almost had her convinced from the start) to several thinly veiled threats (which had her agreeing immediately…she hadn't realized how scary Izumi could truly be until that moment).

She was also starting to wonder why the woman was doing this. Erin wasn't used to people being nice to her. Most of the people of the old Dublith had avoided her on pretense for as long as she could remember. Was Izumi really just this nice to others? Or did she have some sort of alternative motive that she hadn't picked up on yet?

Either way, Izumi still managed to drag her (and the small cat, not that he had a choice in the matter) across the city to about a dozen different stores, leaving Erin feeling exhausted…but somehow happy too.

So after buying several outfits (most of which resembled her current one) and picking up some of Izumi's normal food orders, the alchemist had dropped her and the cat off at a bench near the center of the city with most of the shopping bags and vanished, saying that she needed to grab "one other thing" before they could head back.

"This all feels so strange. Just yesterday I was wondering where I was, and now I'm out shopping with an alchemist," she muttered out loud. She chuckled at the insanity of it all.

"Come on, Mary!"

Erin and the cat both jerked their heads up in the direction of the voice. A young boy was running past them, shouting over his shoulder at another girl who could've easily passed as his sister.

"You're going too fast, Tom!" the small child girl cried out.

"We have to hurry!" the boy snapped arrogantly, grabbing the girl's hand and dragging her along with him. "Loony Lester's going crazy again!"

"Loony Lester?" Erin whispered in confusion, watching the two children run off to the end of the block. In fact, it looked like quite a few people were heading that way.

She looked back at the cat and shrugged. "Shall we go see?"

To her surprise, the cat shrugged back and climbed off her lap and back onto the pavement. She stared at the cat in shock for a moment as it walked off in the same direction as the kids and then she began to follow, the numerous shopping bags over her arms causing her to move slower.

As she got closer, Erin noticed that a ring of people had formed around something…or, more likely, someone as she could clearly hear shouts coming from the center. Wondering if someone was hurt, she set the bags down and, following the cat's lead, made her way through the crowd. She paused when she joined the other people lining the inner ring of the circle. In the center were three males, one obviously much older than the other two. The older man seemed to be struggling against the other two, each grappling one of his flailing arms, and shouting things as he did so.

"It was the demon I tell you! THE DEMON!" the older man screamed, trying to throw off the two men who were attempting to calm him.

"Come on, Lester. Let's get you home, you're making a scene," one of them said, glancing around at the onlookers nervously. He clearly just wished to end this spectacle before it got even more out of hand.

His wish was not granted.

"Damn well I am! I saw it, I saw it with my own eyes! Running through the town like a ghost it was! The demon's loose! It's coming for us! ALL OF US!" The old man's eyes were wild as his voice got even louder.

Erin felt her hands tighten at the words, nails digging into her palms through her gloves. The cat's tale flicked back in forth in anticipation as it took in the agitation of the crowd. He looked away from the scene and back to Erin in confusion, most likely wondering how someone could possibly be shaking in the middle of summer. Little did he know that Erin was shaking, not from the cold, but from a sudden surge of rage. She'd heard words like those before, but the memories that came with them were anything but pleasant.

"Sure it is, Lester," a voice called out mockingly from the crowd. "Now, why don't you just run on home ya drunk old coot!"

The man's wild eyes narrowed. "You know the stories! There true I tell you! The demon is real!"

The two men started to drag the older man away. "The demon will come for you too! It will come when you're asleep! It will eat your children! We must kill it while we can!"

Erin's eyes widened.

"_Kill..."_

"…_no…"_

"_DEMON!"_

"…_not my daughter!"_

"_No…"_

"_Burn it down!"_

"_NO!"_

"Loony Lester!"

The mocking voice snapped Erin back to reality.

She glanced down and saw the small child, Tom, from earlier standing next to her. Mary had apparently run off somewhere else. She looked back up and noticed that the men had managed to drag Lester off, the crowd already starting to disperse.

"We must destroy it!" the demented man's voice shouted, becoming fainter as he was pulled back to…well, Erin wasn't really sure where.

An idea flickered to life in the back of Erin's mind and, without giving it a second thought, she reached out to lightly tap the boy on the shoulder. The boy spun around and glared.

"What ya want?" he asked suspiciously.

Ignoring the cat who was growling at the boy's choice of tone, Erin asked, "Who was that? The old man?"

The boy smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. "Ya don't know about Looney Lester? He's the oldest nutcase in town. Barely ever leaves his house anymore. Why do ya want ta know?"

Erin gave the boy her most innocent smile (although it didn't reach her eyes). "I'm just curious. I'm new around here…do you know where he lives by chance? So I can avoid him, of course," she added, seeing the boy's eyes narrow in suspicion.

The boy seemed to lose what doubts he had and pointed in the direction Lester had been dragged off. "Yeah, he lives that way, oldest house in town. Ya can't miss it!"

She looked off in the direction he'd pointed, her thoughts running circles through her brain. The boy glanced down next to her and glared. "What's with your cat?"

Erin didn't react to his question for a moment. She blinked slightly out of her daze and looked back at the boy. "Hmm?"

The boy rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Weirdo," he muttered and, sticking his tongue out at the cat, ran off.

Erin continued to stare at the spot where the boy had been, her mind considering something that…well…

She jumped in shock when a hand landed on her shoulder. She relaxed almost instantly, though, when she noticed that it was just Izumi. The older woman had a small wooden box tucked under her arms and was giving Erin a concerned look.

"Are you alright?"

She perked up immediately; doing her best to seem like everything was normal she said, "I'm fine, just startled by, um-"

"Lester, right?" Izumi finished, giving the girl an understanding smile.

"Yes! But, what's wrong with him? He seemed a bit…off his rocker."

Izumi blinked at the girls odd choice of words. She smirked and grabbed some of the packages from Erin. "Don't worry about him. He hasn't been quite right since his family died."

"Really?" Erin asked, feigning concern as the two (three counting the cat) made their way back. "Was he close to his family?"

Izumi frowned slightly. "You could say that. The Crowe's have been a part of this town for quite awhile. Their history goes a ways back. They used to have a lot of credibility, but, Lester's drunken rants have destroyed most of that."

It took every last ounce of Erin's willpower to not completely balk. However, she only stumbled a bit. That surname. _Crowe_. It couldn't be…

"Erin?"

"Yes?" she said hurriedly, pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind. She'd deal with it later.

"What are you planning on doing, Erin?"

She stared at Izumi in confusion, hoping nothing on her face had given her previous thoughts away. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean…"

The woman sighed. "You don't remember anything still, correct?"

Erin nodded, only feeling slightly guilty for the lie. The cat walked in between them, looking back and forth between the two.

"Do you have any idea how to get them back?"

Erin stared down at the cobblestones under her feet. Pretending to be sad, she softly muttered, "No."

Izumi, however, gave the girl a cheerful smile. "Well, you do know you're last name."

She waited in silence for the woman to continue, having absolutely no idea where she was going with this.

Cutting to the chase, Izumi said, "Every major city, Central, East City, etcetera, has a major library. And every military outpost makes sure to keep up-to-date records within it of people. Mostly, it only records births, deaths or major honors, but-"

At this, Erin stopped walking entirely. She stared at Izumi in dawning realization. A dazzling smile overcame her and, not even having to fake her enthusiasm, said, "You think they might have something on W-me?"

"It's possible…why don't we work out the details after we eat?"

Erin hastily agreed, glad Izumi hadn't noticed her near slip. She mentally slapped herself. She'd almost said "Will."

However, while Izumi may not have noticed the near slip, a small, violet-eyed ball of fur had.

* * *

Erin sat on the wooden floor of her room, her knees to her chest and her back against the bed. She'd been staring at the wall for the past hour, her mind in complete and utter turmoil. She couldn't believe…

"_There are a few problems with getting you into the library…"_

"_Like what?"_

"_For one, you have to be a State Alchemist to get in…or at least be a close friend of one…"_

"_So…how do I become a State Alchemist?"_

"_That, that won't be necessary, Erin. I've heard rumors that one of my old pupils has recently become one, much to my annoyance…"_

"_Oh, so, where is he?"_

"_I'm having an old friend of mine check up on his current location. I'm hoping to reach him and have him to come here…but there's a chance that the brat might not come…"_

"_Then I'll just go to him!"_

"…_That's not a good idea, Erin."_

"_Why not? You know I can fight and, besides, my only other option is to be a State Alchemist…whatever that is…"_

"_Forget about that. The next test isn't until the spring of 1915 and I doubt you want to wait another year. Finding Edward would be for the best…as long as he hasn't gone and gotten himself killed…I swear, trouble follows that boy like the plague…" _

Erin had pretty much spaced out after that point and nearly lost all of her composure. It was a good thing she'd had a lot of practice at acting like she was fine. Will had always been far too good at reading her…

But…1915? That was almost…four hundred years...

There were so many things wrong with all of this.

For one, she really wasn't sure how she could have stayed alive that long. Frozen for so many years…no, even that wasn't her biggest problem.

Everyone she knew was dead. Practically her entire world was gone. And, even worse…

Will was dead.

That thought hurt her more than anything. She'd always believed that she would die long before he ever would. Why in the world didn't he wake her up? Did he forget? Did he simply stop caring? Had something happened to him?

Although it was cruel, and selfish, she really hoped it was the last one. In fact, she clung onto that hope. The belief that something had happened to her friend was easier for her to stomach than thinking that he just didn't care…or that he was afraid of her, like so many others had been.

Will was the only reason she wanted to go to East city's library. There might be some kind of record on what happened to him. She already knew that she wouldn't find any information on the Aneira's…

Such thoughts dragged her back to the incident earlier today…Lester Crowe, the last surviving member of the Crowe lineage.

Erin's thoughts became much darker after that…to the point where she wondered if they were really her own.

But, honestly, she really couldn't bring herself to care.

_Crowe…_

Some part of Erin's mind snapped.

_Reverend Crowe…_

* * *

'THAT'S IT! I'm out of here!'

Envy was getting annoyed now, more so then he'd previously been. He'd begun to pace awhile ago, every now and then glaring at the still form of Erin. She hadn't stopped staring at the wall for the past two hours! What, was she brain-dead now? This was ridiculous!

He was sick and tired of this, this…whatever this was! He wasn't even really sure himself anymore. It didn't matter. He had better things to do with his time then watch some pathetic human…

Envy whacked his head into the wall in exasperation. He needed to get out of here. He was surprised that Dante hadn't sent out Lust or Gluttony to find him. Either they were away on some new mission or Dante was positive he'd come back…he didn't much like that thought.

Yeah, as soon as she went to sleep (hopefully soon), he'd transform into his regular form and jump out the window. Dante would find out about Erin and he could go back to living his eternal life and planning his revenge against the Elrics.

A small part of Envy's mind was trying to figure out why Dante was so interested in Erin. Sure, the girl was an alchemist and had some sort of memory loss, but those didn't seem like facts that would interest her. Dante wanted power and immortality, and she'd destroy anyone that got in her way.

An even smaller, almost non-existent part of Envy's mind seemed to cringe when he had this thought. However, Envy, believing himself to be one of the most heartless of the Homunculi, mentally stabbed that part of his mind into submission. He had no time for whatever remnants somehow remained of his weak, human emotions.

'Wait until she's asleep, transform, leave. Simple enough,' he thought casually, feeling assured that there was little that could go wrong with his plan.

Oh how wrong he was…

_Creak_

Envy snapped his head around just in time to see a figure wrapped in a black cloak slip out the window.

'Who…?' Envy wondered, leaping onto the ledge of the now open window with cat like agility. He peered out and caught a slight glance of the same figure running down the sidewalk on the shadowed streets below. The figure ran out into the moonlight for just a second…

…and a strip of light blue hair that had remained uncovered glistened in the light.

Envy stared on as the figure raced around a corner out of sight. He mentally weighed his options.

On the one hand, if he went after Erin (the obvious owner of the blue hair), there was a good chance that he'd be gone even longer and make Dante even more suspicious then she most likely already was. However, there was also the chance that whatever the girl was sneaking off to do might interest the old hag…as it definitely interested Envy himself.

And, after all, if you can't satisfy curiosity as an immortal, unkillable homunculus, then what was the point of living?

Besides, it wasn't as if he'd be gone_ that_ much longer…

Reaching a final decision, transformed into his "cuter" form and, with more skills then any acrobat could hope to posses, swung himself onto the roof of the butcher shop. He smirked as he took off from rooftop to rooftop in the direction that Erin had run off in.

* * *

**Well, I thought that was a failry decent chapter, my longest by far...over 3000 words! Personally i'm proud of myself! ^^**

**Heh-heh...sorry it took so long to get out, though...really didn't mean for that to happen...**

**I'd like to personally thank all of you who have reviewed and favored this story...**

**Thanks to - AnimeNinjaNerd - Thanks for being understanding about my slow-update abilities...**

** Circus0900 - Who reminded me that I hadn't updated in quite awhile...thanks for that.**

** Megan May - Don't cry! Your reviews make me want to write more! :)**

** Lovelylynx - Thanks for having messaged me on Quizilla before I started posting here!**

** Ivoryclaw - Whose review made me laugh out loud. (I'm also trying to make Envy more understanding, it'll take awhile, though).**

** Xsqueezeme - Whose review made me blush because he/she called my story "CUTE" (capitals and all).**

** Kallypso - Thanks for finding it interesting and reviewing in general!**

** sakurateodono - Thanks for calling it a "must read!" You have no idea how happy that made me! ^^**

** Envy the Broken - Thanks sooooo much for catching me on my slip-up in the first chapter. I'll edit it as soon as I know how to...**

**Again, thanks to everyone and, as a side note...I NEED A BETA! Ahem, yes, I need one and it would be really helpful if someone who has been reading this story would offer. Any Beta for me has to be ok with my slow updating skills and cannot bash my OC (unless she starts to sound like a Mary-Sue, then bash away.) I'd also like it if the Beta was good at keeping characters from becoming OOC as I have a tendency to let that happen.)**

**See you all later! ;)**


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